Among various biocides known, peroxycarboxylic acids are increasingly used in many applications, owing to their high efficacy against a broad spectrum of microorganisms, color safe property, low residues and nontoxic nature of their decomposition products. The use of peroxycarboxylic biocides are particularly useful in promoting water reuse in conventional and unconventional oil and gas exploration. However, various limitations of employing peroxycarboxylic biocides in the oil and gas industry, along with other industries, are known including corrosive effects resulting from use of peroxycarboxylic biocides for protection against microbial induced corrosion (MIC) which limits its applications of use.
Corrosion prevents significant difficulties in oil and gas wells which are typically subjected to numerous chemical treatments during their production life to enhance operation and protect the integrity of the surfaces. Corrosion of metal surfaces in aqueous media has long been a problem for the oil and gas industry. It is well-known that during the production of oil and gas several other corrosive components are present, such as brines, organic acids, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and microorganisms. These aggressive constituents can cause severe corrosion as demonstrated by surface pitting, embrittlement, and loss of metal.
Corrosion issues are even more troublesome in deep-sea operations where replacement of corroded equipment is difficult and costly. Therefore, it is common practice to employ corrosion inhibitors during the production, transportation, storage, and separation of crude oil and natural gas. Corrosion inhibitors are usually surface-active compounds that form protective coatings on the surface of metals and suppress corrosion by preventing or reducing contact of the corrosive species to the pipeline surface. Common corrosion inhibitors are composed of amines, condensation products of fatty acids with polyamines, imidazolines, and/or quaternary ammonium compounds. Among the most frequently used corrosion inhibitors in crude oil and natural gas extraction are imidazoline derivatives and benzyldimethylalkylammonium chlorides.
There is a need for development of new, high-performance actives that meet the needs for corrosion control in various applications including those treated with biocides causing corrosion.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the invention to develop corrosion-inhibiting water treatments for use in systems for use in oil and gas and other operations.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method of reducing or elimination corrosion in a treated water using an oxidizing or a non-oxidizing biocide, such as peroxycarboxylic acids, and a novel corrosion inhibitor molecule.
Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.